Matt’s Café (Swansea): turning surplus food into second chances

Tucked inside Matthew’s House at 82 High Street, Swansea, Matt’s Café turns what supermarkets throw away into pay-as-you-feel meals that anyone can afford—whether that’s a handful of coins, a song, or simply a smile. The café is part of the Real Junk Food Project network, whose mission is simple: feed bellies, not bins.

How the model works

• Intercept → Create → Share. Volunteers collect surplus produce otherwise bound for landfill, transforming it into nutritious, home-style dishes. In just two recent years the team rescued 25 tonnes of food and served more than 109,000.

• Pay-as-you-feel. No set prices means dignity for guests and a steady, community-powered revenue stream. Swansea Council highlights the policy as key to making hot meals accessible three days a week.

  
  

More than a café: the Matthew’s House ecosystem

Matt’s Café is the gateway to a suite of “mini-projects” that wrap practical help around each visitor:

• Matt’s Showers & Laundry – hot showers and clean clothes restore comfort and confidence.Big Issue

• Dignity Packs – weekly hygiene parcels, plus free period products on-site.Swansea

• Matt’s Buddies – trained volunteers who stick with guests through housing or benefits hurdles.Big Issue

  
  

A recent boost—a fully-electric van supplied through the Big Issue × Citroën “Driving Change for Good” partnership—now lets the team collect more donations in fewer trips, stretching both food-rescue capacity and volunteer time.

Why their ethos matches ours

Like us, Matt’s Café believes:

• Waste is a resource. We reuse, repurpose, and recycle wherever possible; they do it with ingredients.

• Hospitality heals. Every event night we host aims to build belonging; their dining room offers the same warmth daily.

• Community solves community problems. Both projects run on local goodwill, time and talent.

  
  

That’s why the £267 raised over our quiz night at the start of the year went straight to their kitchen. A modest sum in one sense, but enough to underwrite roughly 100 extra meals and several additional food-collection runs.

How you can get involved

1. Volunteer a shift. Knife skills optional; kindness essential.

2. Become a “Friend of Matthew’s House.” Regular gifts—even a few pounds a month—stabilise their budget.

3. Share their story. Post about food waste, tag @MattsCafeSA1, and help change the narrative from scarcity to sharing.

   
   

Small actions, multiplied, keep plates full and hope alive on High Street. Thanks for standing with a project whose heartbeat sounds a lot like our own.